There will be more than a few people rubbing there hands with glee today as details emerge of an eight year adulterous affair involving a Christian fundamentalist ‘Bishop’ who, it would seem, was fundamentally flawed.

Hardline Christian fundamentalist, Michael Reid, 64, has quit his various roles as church, school and moral leader after it emerged that the outspoken ‘Bishop of England’ has been involved in an adulterous affair with the music director of his church based in Brentwood, England.

Apparently the ‘Bishop’ and married mother-of-two Sheila Graziano, 49, have been ‘making sweet music’ together for some eight years, and news of the affair only came to light when Bishop Reid’s wife of 36 years allegedly caught the couple.

The hypocrisy of Michael Reid and Sheila Graziano is obvious. In his role as Bishop of England, and leader of the Christian Congress for Traditional Values (CCTV), Reid has been happy to stir anger with provocative comments such as describing gay people as “filthy perverts,” and more recently a billboard that read “Gay Aim: Abolish the family.”

Graziano, serving as music director at the Peniel Church, has clearly shared those views. Back in 2006 she commented on a Daily Mail story about Pope Benedict’s urging Anglicans to oppose any moves to legalise “weak and deviant” unions (gay marriage).

“I believe that the only rightful sexual relationship is between a man and woman in a monogamous marriage. We need more Church leaders who are not afraid to stand up and be a voice for God’s principles.” Wrote Graziano.

This story positively oozes the kind of sleaze and hypocrisy that the media love to run with. The cliche of the Bishop ‘bonking’ the organist is irresistibly juicy ‘news’, and with Reid making a swift escape (with his wife) to Arizona my suspicions are that more lurid and unpleasant sensations surrounding the Bishop may yet come to light.

MEN OF GOD

This is, of course, nothing new. So called ‘men of God’ have been falling from grace for as long as it’s been possible to do so. But there’s an underlying issue here that I find more troubling than tabloid gossip that ordinarily surrounds a revelation like this, and that is the apparent lack of control and accountability these men are subject to. Apart from God in heaven, who do these men answer to? Who advises them and brings them to book should the need arise?

By all accounts Bishop Reid did not take kindly to any sort of criticism, a trait that seems uncomfortably common among Pentecostal church leaders. A quick Google will reveal some truly awful stories about Michael Reid and the way he has dealt with people who have questioned his leadership over the years. But if the congregation aren’t allowed to question the leadership then doesn’t that make the church a cult, or at least so close to a cult as to be indistinguishable?

When the CCTV, headed by ‘Bishop’ Reid, put out their infamous “Gay aim” billboard earlier this year, I checked their website to see who else was in a position of influence within the organisation. Kensington Temple’s, Pastor Colin Dye, was named as ‘co-founder’ of the group so I decided to email the Revd Dye and ask him if perhaps it would be wise to reign in the Bishop who was clearly prone to unpleasant and unnecessarily confrontational outbursts. (You can read that email in the comments here.)

His first response seemed somewhat defensive. However, in a telephone conversation with me this afternoon, Revd Colin Dye was keen to put as much distance between himself and the ‘Bishop’ as possible.

“I’d not heard or participated in the CCTV for quite some time, knew nothing about this poster, and the point is that he [Michael Reid] wouldn’t necessarily go and involve people in the committee meeting and say this is what we want to do and have you got any ideas. He would just sort of act independently on that.” Claimed Pastor Dye.

“I haven’t had a conversation with him in ages, and I had no idea he was putting posters out in the name of CCTV.” He continued.

Dye went on to tell me that he himself resigned from the CCTV this morning on learning the news of Reid’s affair. Even if his words could be viewed with a degree of skepticism given the obvious desire to not be associated with ‘Bishop’ Reid at this time, Dye’s comments do rather suggest that the church, particularly the Pentecostal church, is open to a lot of abuse from rogue leaders.

ACCOUNTABILITY

I’ve personally come across one such abuse. A relatively high profile Pastor of a local church has for years enjoyed an unchallenged place at the top of a church he created. As part of the Elim Pentecostal group, this particular pastor has often times been embroiled in unpleasant dealings with those who have dared question his authority, methods or practices. Like other rogue leaders he surrounds himself with weaker people who are only likely to ‘toe the line’ or face certain replacement just as those who have questioned him in the past have been.

“We discovered by bitter experience that the Elim organisation has protective mechanisms in place for the leaders (shepherds) but nothing for the sheep. It is assumed that the shepherd must always be right.” One former member told me. They took a complaint about the pastor through Elim channels and were “given the brush-off at this the highest level in Elim.”

With the severity of their accusations about the pastor in mind I asked them why they had chosen to not seek justice through the courts, especially given the apparent presence of a compelling dossier of evidence against him.

“One major problem about bringing the whole unsavory situation into the public arena is that God’s Kingdom would suffer disgrace.” I was told.

While I understand that, I can’t help but feel that such an attitude is merely cowardice disguised as deference to God, and that in choosing to “leave it at the cross” Christians are, in some part at least, responsible for the continued damage that abusive, dishonest and hypocritical leaders will do.

In effect, what I’m saying is that the Christian community as a whole brings itself into disrepute by its willingness to ignore or allow the behavior of rogue leaders to go unchecked and unpunished.

I would suggest that in this recent scandal surrounding ‘Bishop’ Michael Reid, there were no shortage of signs that the man had gone off the rails, or at the very least had stepped outside the bounds of creating a constructive challenge to the public at large.

His hateful tirades set him up for this spectacular fall and while the fingers of blame are pointing squarely in his direction at this time, I feel that the Christian community as a whole should perhaps embark on some self examination of the way in which they let this ‘Bishop’ spin so spectacularly out of control.

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JULY 08 UPDATE: After resigning from the Church Bishop Reid apparently withdrew his resignation and simply withdrew from his pastoral duties. It would seem this was a strategic move to ensure he was in a strong legal position against his former church whom he is now in dispute with over salary payments, property rights and other financial dealings. Reid himself is actively looking for a senior pastoral role within another church.

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Family Values campaigner resigns after admitting adultery
Moral and family values ‘Bishop’ resigns over affair
Bad ‘Bishop’ resigns from CCTV
Moral ‘Bishop’ resigns after affair is unearthed
Forum discuss the multitude of sins of the ‘Bishop’
Are you offended?
Michael Reid Miseries
Falwell from grace
[Audio] BBC Radio 4 report the Bishop sex scandal story

I almost don’t want to post this after the debacle in the comments on the last cartoon I posted, but I’m looking at this thinking to myself that this cartoon cannot possibly provoke any over-analyzing, surely? However, if you find this offensive then may I suggest that you book a vacation, somewhere warm and relaxing, a place where you can spend a little ‘you time‘ to chill the f**k out!

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More cartoons at The Rut

Alex Chadwick is sitting in Union Station in Washington looking for someone to share their story with him, it doesn’t take long before a man sits across the table from him and talks about how he went from being a homeless “bum” to a well dressed man.

“Don’t talk to strangers.” That’s what your mother probably always used to tell you, it was good advice in most cases, though we’ve become virtual hermits living lives that aren’t ordinarily open to new connections with people we don’t know. It’s the modern default to keep ones self to themselves and not to talk to strangers, and I happen to think that’s somewhat of a sad situation to be in.

Alex Chadwick has travelled across America in search of random connections, finding people who are willing to talk to a stranger. In his distinctive hat and sat behind a small table with a hand written sign that reads “Interviews 50c” he doesn’t look threatening, and as such he has managed to engage some ordinary people, who like most of us, has a story that’s just waiting to be told.

In the interview above, filmed at Union Station in Washington DC, an elegantly dressed man named William tells Chadwick about how he used to be a homeless “bum” asking people for spare change at the very same location just a year before.

“That’s how God can change you.” Says William, a reformed drug addict who credits his life change to God.

He told Chadwick that he had been free of drugs before and that he was aware that falling back into drug dependancy was always possible. I Googled William trying to find out if perhaps he had written something somewhere online about his interview with Chadwick, but my searches drew a blank.

“I know how cunning, baffling and powerful drugs are. I go to AA, NA, I go to recovery, relapse prevention groups.” He said.

I guess William is out there somewhere, and I hope he’s still dressing sharp, still drug free, and doing okay. Maybe he’s still walking around Union Station in DC talking to people telling his story?

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Crazy in love
Married five times

Thomas Beatie (34) lives in Bend, Oregon, with his wife, Nancy (45). The couple run a small screen printing business called Define Normal which is perhaps a hint to the story that is rumbling beneath the outward appearance of their ‘normal’ life, because Thomas is pregnant!

The story sounds like it has been lifted from the fantastical pages of the National Enquirer, but instead it appeared in a recent issue of The Advocate. Alongside a picture of himself looking somewhat pregnant, Beatie announces that after quite some effort the couple are expecting their first child, a daughter, on July 3rd.

If the story were to end there then it would likely be dismissed, but the hook element that captured the attention of the mainstream media is the fact that Thomas Beatie from Bend, Oregon, used to be Tracy LaGondino from Honolulu, Hawaii, before she had sex reassignment to become a he‘

“Sterilization is not a requirement for sex reassignment [surgery], so I decided to have chest reconstruction and testosterone therapy but kept my reproductive rights.” Writes Beatie for The Advocate. “Wanting to have a biological child is neither a male nor female desire, but a human desire.”

The couple claim to have decided that Thomas would carry their child because Nancy is unable to have children after having surgery for severe endometriosis. Beatie stopped taking testosterone injections and his “body regulated itself,” he wrote. This is apparently Beatie’s second pregnancy after a first was aborted due to complications.

The article which has drawn worldwide attention ends with Beatie asking everyone to “embrace the gamut of human possibility and to define for themselves what is normal.”

My immediate suspicions were that this was simply an elaborate publicity stunt not unlike similar hoaxes in the past (notably the God Hates a Fag song by Donnie Davies), and that after a while the story would simply run out of steam by itself.

However, it would appear that the story is indeed real and that Thomas Beatie, once known as prominent gay rights activist Tracy LaGondino, the one time chairwoman for the Civil Unions-Civil Rights group in Hawaii, is indeed having a baby.

Yesterday Oprah Winfrey announced that Beatie and his wife will be appearing in an interview on her show tomorrow (Thursday 3rd April) along with their obstetrician and friends and footage of the father having an Ultrasound. (See that here.)

Amazing as it might sound though, Beatie won’t be the first ‘man’ to give birth. Back in 1999 a transgendered gay couple from New York (both formerly females) announced they were having a baby. Writing for The Village Voice Patrick Califia, a transgendered pornographer and therapist, wrote about some of the issues of parenthood he and his partner, Matt Rice, who bore the child, were now facing.

“Matt and I are doing something most people take for granted. We are two people in love who live together and raise a child. We plan to be together for the rest of our lives. But our family is not like other families, and so we are always afraid that some malicious person or powerful institution will take action against us and disrupt our lives. That’s because we are both transgendered men (female-to-male or FTM), and my boyfriend is the mother of my child.” Wrote Califia. The couple have since split up.

At this stage I am curious as to what motivated Beatie and his wife to make their pregnancy public. In his article in The Advocate Beatie writes of discrimination toward the couple as they tried to get pregnant. “Our situation sparks legal, political, and social unknowns.” He writes. “Doctors have discriminated against us, turning us away due to their religious beliefs.”

However, with Oprah Winfrey and People Magazine being granted exclusive rights to the first interview with the couple, I find myself wondering if behind all the righteous talk about rights and discriminations perhaps there could be another powerful incentive at work, that incentive being money.

One would imagine that the deal with the Oprah Show and People Magazine will have paid handsomely for those exclusive rights, and given the worldwide interest in the story it’s not unfair to suggest that other similar deals will follow. Indeed, from this angle it would seem as if the whole affair has been carefully stage managed to create maximum media interest.

So among all the other questions that this story raises, I find myself wondering if the decision to go public with their story was right or not. Some might say that they’re simply taking a rare opportunity to generate the funds to raise their child and give her the best start they can in life. Others might scorn what could be seen as a cynical manipulation of a morally murky subject. In the end only time will tell, though I rather think that unless the story has continued tabloid value, we’re unlikely to see how this all unfolds over the course of years ahead.

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Labor of Love
In Response to “Labor of Love”
Pregnant man stuns medical profession
Man who used to be a woman claims to be five months pregnant
A pregnant man?
Family Values : Two Dads with a difference
God hates a fag?
Let’s get this straight
What makes me a woman?
[Video] Man from Oregon to give birth in July
Additional link : [Video] Pregnant Thomas Beatie gets an ultrsound

I would like to congratulate the person who sent me what was an amusing April fools gag.

Just before lunch I got a text message, apparently from my mobile phone service provider, Orange. It read; “Your Orange account has been suspended as you have accrued over £500 of data charges in the last 24 hours. Please call the account abuse team on 150.”

This might have been a great gag if only for the fact that I was well aware of the fact that today is April Fools Day. It did cause me to ring Orange because I assumed that perhaps this was a April fools gag on a grand scale and I was interested in hearing if they were dealing with a deluge of angry customers. But no, it seems not, it looks like I was a very specific target for this gag so I tip my hat to whichever trickster this stunt is down to.

Even if this text message had been genuine though (and heck, it came from ‘Orange’ so it looked the part) I wasn’t concerned as I had the data service removed from my account nearly a year ago. So if I had accrued over £500 worth of data charges then that would be Orange’s problem, not mine.

It’s not the first time a friend has played a phone trick on me. A while back someone sent me a self destructing text message, a message that automatically deletes itself moments after you open it to read. The problem was that I never actually got to see the message because it self destructed as I was laughing at the name of the apparent sender while I walked down to my kitchen to show the message to a friend. By the time I got to the kitchen it was gone! Still, it was a clever trick, available for a premium price online I later learned.

I’ll confess though, I have no idea who to pin this April fools gag on. The list of jokers who might do this is long. So come forward joker. Claim your prize, you did after all get me to call Orange so you can at least claim some success.